Motor accident compensation must reflect correctly assessed income and standardized conventional heads.

The appellants, the original claimants, challenged the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Kheda at Nadiad’s judgment and award dated 16 December 2021 in Motor Accident Claim Petition No. 77 of 2015, seeking enhancement of compensation.

The High Court noted that the accident-related facts and the owner’s and insurer’s liability were not disputed. The claimants contended that the Tribunal had inadequately assessed compensation, including the deceased’s income and future prospects; the insurer supported the award.

Whether the Tribunal had properly assessed the compensation payable to the claimants, including dependency loss and conventional heads.

Whether the claimants were entitled to enhanced compensation and, if so, in what amount and with what interest.

Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides for an appeal against an award of a Claims Tribunal.

The Court applied the principle that compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act must be just, fair, reasonable, and based on a realistic assessment of the loss.

Relying on National Insurance Company Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, (2017) 16 SCC 680, it stated that Rs. 18,150 each should be awarded for loss of estate and funeral expenses.

Relying on United India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Satinder Kaur @ Satwinder Kaur, (2021) 11 SCC 780, it applied a consortium award of Rs. 48,400 for each of the four dependents.

The Court found that the Tribunal had not properly considered the deceased’s monthly income and recalculated the compensation, while leaving the undisputed accident and liability findings undisturbed.

Applying the cited Supreme Court decisions to the conventional heads, it determined total compensation of Rs. 9,76,604, comprising Rs. 7,93,104 for future dependency loss and Rs. 1,83,500 under the combined heads of loss of estate, consortium, and funeral expenses. After deducting the Tribunal’s award of Rs. 6,79,104, it calculated an enhancement of Rs. 2,97,500.

The insurer was directed to deposit the enhanced amount and interest within six weeks of receiving the order; the Tribunal was directed to disburse the amount in accordance with the Court’s directions, and the remaining terms of the Tribunal’s award were left unchanged.